Julia
by EmilieZombie
Summary: More than one suprise is in store for John as the result of an unexpected phone call...


**First things first, I would just like to point out that I own neither John, Amanda or Adam...however I do own Julia, Richard, Toby and Leigh. Any constructive criticism you have to offer would be much appreciated. In case there is any confusion regarding the timeline in this story, I'd like to point out that I envisioned it set between the events in SAW and SAW2. **

John was surprised to hear his mobile phone ringing; it wasn't often that either he or Amanda received any calls. He could hear Amanda's footsteps coming up the stairs, and gave her a nod of approval as she reached for the phone.

"Hello"

Amanda's voice was raspy, in an almost seductive way.

"Er...Hi, would it be possible to speak with John?"

Amanda furrowed her brow. The voice on the other end was that of a young woman, probably no more than twenty years of age.

"Just a moment..."

Amanda covered the mouth piece and glanced in John's direction.

"It's for you. A young women"

Amanda whispered. John seemed as confused as Amanda was but raised his hand and beckoned for Amanda to bring the phone to him.

"Hello"

John answered, gesturing for Amanda to pass him the glass of water that sat near by.

"Dad...it's me, Julia"

John's body was overtaken by shock, his heart pounding lightning fast.

"...Julia?"

Amanda stood close by, her head racing. She could see that something wasn't right; John had never seemed this agitated before and it scared her.

"Listen, I know that I haven't been in touch but I've..."

John heard his daughter stifle her tears.

"...well I've been..."

She paused.

"I need you!"

Julia cried out, no longer able to hold her composure.

"Julia...please don't cry, it's alright; whatever it is, it doesn't matter"

John said. He could feel the emotion washing over him and all of a sudden he was reminded of just how much he'd missed his daughter these past few years, where the only contact that he'd had with his daughter was the occasional phone call.

"Can I see you?"

John smiled warmly.

"Of course...you remember the address, don't you?"

"Yes"

---------------------------------------------------

Amanda replaced the phone to its original position and turned to face the man who had become the only father she'd ever known. John could see it in her eyes that she wanted answers but he knew that she would never pry into his personal business.

"I suppose I should explain"

He said, taking a sip of water.

"You don't owe me an explanation John, you owe me nothing"

Amanda replied.

"That's not strictly true Amanda, in fact I owe you a lot; you are here and you care for me in more ways than one and I'm eternally thankful for that"

Amanda smiled uncertainly.

"That was my daughter"

John announced. Amanda look at him directly, her personal surprise less than she would have imagined.

"...Julia...she seems to be in some sort of trouble, as you heard she needs to see me; we'd best make our way to the house"

Amanda straightened up and took the keys to the van out of her pocket. It had been some time since either she or John had visited his private home, they had been living in the warehouse for several months now and she'd become accustom to it.

---------------------------------------------------

"How old is she?"

Amanda asked as they drove.

"She'll be twenty one on the eighth of August"

John replied. He turn to look at Amanda, he could see that she had many questions for him but that she daren't ask for fear of upsetting him.

"It's alright Amanda; go ahead...pick my brains"

John said, laughing. She smiled brightly, wondering how he always knew what she was thinking.

"Is she your only child?"

"No"

John turned to look out of the window, the sky a sickly grey.

"No she's not; she's my only daughter, the middle child..."

Amanda stole at glance at John; she could see him trying desperately to form a clear mental image of his past.

"I have a son, Richard...he's two year older than Julia and then there's Toby...the youngest, he'll be almost fourteen now"

Amanda took a left turn.

"Why is it that you don't see them?"

John sighed, painful memories stabbing at him angrily.

"My wife at the time took it upon herself to leave me for another man. That was almost eight years ago now...I came home from work one evening to find the house empty and a note tacked to the fridge explaining that I had emotionally neglected my family and that I didn't deserve the love they gave me. That she had found someone who appreciated her, someone that would be there for her and the children..."

He coughed violently and tried desperately to compose himself before continuing.

"...I was much like Dr Lawrence Gordon, in the respect that I put my work before my family. I tried many a time to see my children after that, but my ex-wife and her new partner did all they could to stand in my way. He even wanted to legally adopt my children, but thankfully that didn't happen...I highly doubt I would have ever had any contact with them if he had"

"My eldest son and I were very close at one time; he was old enough to understand that I knew I had made a mistake and that I was sorry for it. Julia was your typical angry teenager, depressed...indulging in self destructive behaviour such as drinking and drug use..."

Amanda thought back to her own experience with drugs; shuddering inwardly she focused on John's voice.

"...and Toby, well Toby was too young to really appreciate the situation. He became very close to his step father, probably closer than he and I ever were"

Amanda stopped the car outside John's house, and walked around to the passengers' side to help him out. Once inside, John seated himself beside the living room window; waiting patiently for his daughter to arrive...the daughter that he hadn't seen in over two years.

"Here"

Amanda handed John a mug of hot soup.

"Would you like me to leave?"

Amanda asked.

"No, I'd appreciate it if you stayed"

Amanda was flattered.

"But how are you going to explain me to your daughter?"

She questioned.

"You can be my nurse"

John said, chuckling. Amanda smiled, looking at her feet.

"Does she realise how ill you are?"

John sighed.

"No...None of them do, but I suppose she will soon enough"

As he said this, the doorbell rang; causing Amanda to jump.

"Would you?"

John gestured toward the door.

------------------------------------------------------

Amanda opened the door and smiled nervously at the young women standing before her. She wasn't at all how Amanda had expected her to look. Julia was roughly the same height as John and had the same piercing blue eyes. Her hair was short and shaggy, much like Amanda; except Julia's was jet black, with the occasional streak of electric blue running through it. She was rail thin and was wearing tight black jeans with a studded belt and a loose fitting semi see through black and white striped jumper over a tight fitting black vest top, with a battered pair of white converse all stars. She eyed Amanda suspiciously.

"Hello"

Amanda spoke as calmly as she could.

"I'm Amanda Young. You must be Julia...?"

Julia's gaze penetrated Amanda.

"Yes...and who exactly are you?"

Amanda could see that Julia had been crying and was emotionally drained.

"I'm a nurse; I care for your father"

Julia's face crumpled.

"How is he? Is he doing any better?"

Amanda didn't know what to say. So she simply said...

"His condition is stable at this point in time"

Amanda beckoned Julia in and closed the door behind her.

"Dad"

Julia spoke softly as she moved across the room wrapping her arms around her father's neck.

"Hello Julia"

John said; tears ready to fall.

"I've missed you so much"

John whispered into her ear.

"I've missed you too"

"Take a seat"

John said, pulling a chair closer to him. Amanda lingered in the doorway of the kitchen and decided it better if she made herself scarce.

"You look so much more grown up than the last time I saw you"

John said proudly. Julia smiled.

"You're not looking so well"

John turned away from her gaze.

"I'm alright Julia, please don't worry"

"I can't help it, I've neglected you...both Richard and I have; I won't bring Toby into this because honestly he doesn't know any better, but Richard and I should've been there for you"

John shook his head.

"It's ok Julia, honestly"

She sighed.

"How are Richard and Toby?"

"Richard is doing well, one more year to go and he'll be Doctor Richard Kramer..."

John felt the pride swell within him.

"...and Toby, well he's a complete sport fanatic; he's just been made the captain of his high school football team"

John laughed.

"Not like me then, I was never much at sports"

Julia laughed also.

"I know, I can remember a time when you tried to teach me to play baseball...it was a disaster!"

"You remember that?"

"Of course I do..."

Julia trailed off. She desperately wanted to tell him how much she treasured those brief moments together; but just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"...Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

John asked.

"It's a long story"

Julia said, wanting to avoided the subject and just enjoy her father's company.

"I'm not going anywhere"

John pushed, knowing her game; the same one she played so many times before.

"It's complicated, but I'll try..."

John nodded.

"About a year and a half ago I met my boyfriend, we shared several classes at college; anyway we hit it off right away and went from being friends to being a couple in a very short space of time. We were very much in love, in fact I thought that I'd found the man that I was going to spend the rest of my life with...but there were problems. He had a quick temper and much of the time dealt with his problems by using sarcasm and his quick wit, something I found hard to deal with. Anyway we were living together at this point...I had become very depressed again and I was turning to self harm to cope..."

Julia paused, ashamed to admit to her father that she'd once again resorted to her old ways.

"...He couldn't deal with my erratic behaviour and in turn he spent more and more time out and away from me. Eventually we separated, but no more than a month after I moved out of his apartment and back into the campus dorm, I discovered that I was pregnant..."

She trailed off.

"Go on Julia..."

John encouraged.

"...I though about having an abortion, but I just couldn't...I was so scared to tell him, I thought he'd react badly...but...but he didn't"

Julia said, starting to cry.

"He was pleased, I mean we were both shocked seeing as we'd been using protection but he didn't see it as something that we couldn't deal with"

Amanda entered the room and held out a glass of water to Julia, who took it and smiled; her cheeks flushed. Hot tears upon them.

"...Anyway we decided to give things another go, it wasn't easy but somehow we managed to re-build our relationship; we were both looking forward to the birth and had no doubts about raising the child together"

John listened carefully.

"Then, about two months before I was due to give birth he went missing...at first I thought that he'd panicked and run off somewhere, but then I had a call from the police..."

She choked on her tears.

"...they said that they believed that he'd been kidnapped along with another man..."

She stopped, unable to continue.

"Kidnapped by whom?"

John ventured.

"...Jigsaw!"

Amanda had returned to the kitchen but she could hear everything and she very nearly dropped the cup that she was holding. John felt his heart race.

Julia continued.

"I mean I know that Adam wasn't completely innocent, but he certainly didn't deserve whatever that monster did to him!"

Adam! John felt the vomit rise in his throat.

"...I still don't know exactly what happened; all the police can tell me is that they suspect that he was kidnapped along with another... Dr Lawrence Gordon; I'm sure you've seen his wife and daughter on the news"

Julia took another sip of water.

"The stress caused me to go into labour almost a month early..."

John stopped her.

"Please tell me that the baby is alright"

John begged. Realising that if the child had died it would have been his fault.

"Leigh...He's perfect, almost seven months old now"

Julia smiled, obviously thinking of her precious son.

"I just wish that Adam was here to see him"

Amanda felt nauseous...she'd kidnapped Adam on John's behalf and now Julia was left to raise her son as a single mother.

"...I hoped for the longest time afterward that he would be found alive, but now I've come to the realisation that they'll probably never even find his body"

Julia's faced was twisted into a look of combined disgust and pain.

"Anyway..."

Julia said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I've been feeling so alone lately, Richard is always so busy with his studies and Toby, well he's just a kid..."

John interrupted her.

"What about your mother?"

Julia looked ashamed.

"She didn't approve of Adam, he was several years older than me and when she found out that I was pregnant she lost it...she's barely spoken to me since, and she hasn't even seen her grandson"

John smiled warmly, taking a hold of his daughter's hand.

"You have me Julia; I'm here for you... and Leigh"

He paused. Leigh. He had a grandson!

"I only wished that you'd come to me sooner"

She squeezed his hand tightly. Thank you, she mouthed as Amanda entered the room; handing John an assortment of pills.

"So"

John began his voice lighter in tone; he tried to ignore Amanda's expression.

"Where is this grandson of mine?"

"With Richard, I feel awful; he hasn't had a day off in weeks and I turn up on his doorstep this morning begging him to take care of Leigh"

"You should have brought him with you"

Julia actually wished she had.

"I didn't like to, I wasn't sure how you'd react"

John nodded.

"I'd love to meet him"

"I'd love you to be a part of his life"

Julia said.

"He'll need a good honest man in his life now"

Amanda left the room a little too hurriedly, rushing into the upstairs bathroom she threw up violently. Suddenly the game had become a little to real, suddenly Adam wasn't just Adam chained to a pipe; he had a life...a family...a personality.


End file.
